How is it Disney has better female villains than marvel/dc?

[Silvermoth]

Sure there's a couple of good ones like cat woman or Cassandra nova (who is yet to appear in a movie) but most of the time even the female rogues tend to play the love interests like mystique.

The Disney villians though have great larger than life personalities like Ursula the sea witch and mother from rapunzel. Do you think the reason this is the case is because too many superhero flicks have male leads and you can't really show a male lead beating up a woman or is there some other reason.

I'm hoping as superhero films start to diversify to stay relevant we get some cool female heroes/villains with purposes beyond "he stole my man" or "I'm worried someone might be prettier than me"

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

Why can't you show a male lead beating up a woman? I just saw Jack Bauer do that on 24 this week.

Dredd had a female main villain.

 

[Harry Dresden]

Mystique traditionally isn't a love interest. Hell she wasn't even one in the movies until First Class decided to introduce that element.

I will admit though that comics have a bad habit of introducing female villains and then turning them into good guys or anti-heroes over a period of time. It's kind of annoying.

 

[jonathancrane]

To be fair, the Disney films that feature the female villains are cartoons. It's a lot easier to get away violence in that paradigm than it is a regular cbm/ blockbuster.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

I don't think it is that hard in a regular CBM. Wolverine fought women in all three of the original X-Men Trilogy, with the Lady Deathstrike fight being one of the best in all comic book films.

The problem with both DC and Marvel is that there is a lack of female main villains (especially for male heroes) in the comics. There are plenty of henchwomen and supporting villains, but very few that are capable of holding a film. Talia Al Ghul is one of the exceptions, and she was the main villain in TDKR.

Disney has had the opposite problem. Nearly all of the best Disney animated villains are female, with only the rare male (like Scar or Shere Khan) being the exception.

 

[DA_Champion]

When marvel and dc have female characters, it's pandering.

When Disney has female characters, it's an investment.

 

[Laderlappen]

Because Disney has really good villains.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

Because Disney has really good villains.

Skewed heavily towards the female side though. Nearly all of the best Disney animated villains are women, with only the odd exception (such as Scar) mixed in.

Disney has bad villains too. When was the last time anybody talked about Edgar the Butler or Commander Rourke?

 

[R_Hythlodeus]

define 'better'

 

[R_Hythlodeus]

also: a lot of the disney movies are adaptations of fairy days where you usually have some incarnation of an 'evil stepmother' archetype and the heroes and heroines are seldom super powered. Ursula was a great antagonist for Arielle, but put Ursula against Namor and suddenly she's not that great anymore

 

[StarkTheProdigy]

Could the fact that a majority of these Disney films are animated features be a factor?

 

[CyclopsWasRight]

Only female Marvel/DC villian I can think of are...

Ursa from Superman 2
Poison Ivy
Catwoman from Batman Returns
Talia Al Ghul
Faora
Blonde vampire from Blade
Danica Talos from Blade 3
Mystique
Lady Deathstrike
Dark Phoenix
Angel Salvatore
Emma Frost
Fire henchwoman from Iron Man 3

Seems once again X-Men proves to be the most diverse of the Marvel movies

I don't think it is that hard in a regular CBM. Wolverine fought women in all three of the original X-Men Trilogy, with the Lady Deathstrike fight being one of the best in all comic book films.

The problem with both DC and Marvel is that there is a lack of female main villains (especially for male heroes) in the comics. There are plenty of henchwomen and supporting villains, but very few that are capable of holding a film. Talia Al Ghul is one of the exceptions, and she was the main villain in TDKR.

Disney has had the opposite problem. Nearly all of the best Disney animated villains are female, with only the rare male (like Scar or Shere Khan) being the exception.

Awesome fight.

 

[dude stannis]

It's because Devin Faraci would go up in arms about how sexist it would be for the woman to be evil.

Seriously though, Foara was a freaken boss in Man of Steel, and a major highlight of the film.

 

[jonathancrane]

I would have no problem if they made Faora the villain in an upcoming DC film. In MOS, her development did not move past being the villain's muscle, no different than Bob from Batman (1989). But, if the right writer got their hands on the film, they could really develop her into a character as rich and powerful as Magneto, by expanding on some of the important ideas from MOS: the destruction of a civilization (and displacement of the survivors,) revenge (I'd be ticked if I was sent to the Phantom Zone...again!) and the status of the cosmos after Justice League (if they deliver on Darkseid or another cosmic villain.)

 

[Doppelganger]

Skewed heavily towards the female side though. Nearly all of the best Disney animated villains are women, with only the odd exception (such as Scar) mixed in.

Disney has bad villains too. When was the last time anybody talked about Edgar the Butler or Commander Rourke?

Huh?

Frollo, Scar, Gaston, Rattigan, Jafar, Hook, Governor Ratcliff, King John, Hades, Shere Khan, and Doctor Facilier

I kindy disagree. I see this more like a 50/50 mix in quality and quantity.

 

[dude stannis]

I would have no problem if they made Faora the villain in an upcoming DC film. In MOS, her development did not move past being the villain's muscle, no different than Bob from Batman (1989). But, if the right writer got their hands on the film, they could really develop her into a character as rich and powerful as Magneto, by expanding on some of the important ideas from MOS: the destruction of a civilization (and displacement of the survivors,) revenge (I'd be ticked if I was sent to the Phantom Zone...again!) and the status of the cosmos after Justice League (if they deliver on Darkseid or another cosmic villain.)

I suppose Ursa could still be alive somewhere.

 

[scifiwolf]

Disney princesses vs square-jawed male superheroes, that's why. Antagonists tend to be mirrors of the protagonists, so you get a lot of female villains in Disney movies. Look at the male Disney leads and their villains. Simba/Scar, Aladdin/Jafar. Even in Beuaty and the Beast, Gaston serves as the foil for the Beast, though he gives Belle a lot of trouble. The Disney of late since their renaissance has been much better than the earlier studio when it comes to mixing up the gender roles. Tangled is one of those old school, classic structures, but the presence of the Stabbington bros and the palace guards add some male antogonists to counter Flynn.

Ultimately, Marvel and DC have phenomenal female characters, but I see them being held back by always populating a morally gray area rather than being the full evil personas we've seen out of classic Disney. I suspect this has a lot to do with the notion of the heroes always having the glimmer of hope of "saving" them, or at the very least, interacting with them in a non-adversarial manner from time to time.

 

[baerrtt]

What the OP is actually saying is why does Disney historically have more notable and iconic villains that happen to be female compared to the actual comics and the first reason for me is that alot of Disney feature animation is either directly adapted or inspired by fairy tales which traditionally have female antagonists.

There's also the fact that most of the female villains, barring 101 DALMATIANS, feature in narratives where the primary hero is also female. Comic books, needless to say, aren't exactly awash with superheroines with their own solo titles and quite frankly as a result of that a majority of the female villains are also underwritten or, and here's the key thing, sexualised to the point (the New 52 changes to Harley Quinn for example) where you either don't care or notice what their actual character is or not.

As praised as Faora has been in MOS I'd wager that if the actress they hired hadn't been good looking there's no way comic book fanboys would have been raving so breathlessly about the character. Whereas Disney villains such as Cruella De Ville aren't presented as physically desirable women.

 

[Pink Ranger]

As praised as Faora has been in MOS I'd wager that if the actress they hired hadn't been good looking there's no way comic book fanboys would have been raving so breathlessly about the character. Whereas Disney villains such as Cruella De Ville aren't presented as physically desirable women.

They're not? You mean I'm not supposed to ... of course, you're right, why even question it, really. Everyone go about your business, heh heh.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

Huh?

Frollo, Scar, Gaston, Rattigan, Jafar, Hook, Governor Ratcliff, King John, Hades, Shere Khan, and Doctor Facilier

I kindy disagree. I see this more like a 50/50 mix in quality and quantity.

I don't want to get into an argument since it will just distract from the actual topic being discussed, so I will just state my opinion and be done.

But I think the majority of those listed above pale in comparison to the likes of Cruella, Ursula, Lady Tremaine, The Queen, and Maleficent. Those are probably my picks for the top five Disney animated villains, and they are all females.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

It's because Devin Faraci would go up in arms about how sexist it would be for the woman to be evil.

Seriously though, Foara was a freaken boss in Man of Steel, and a major highlight of the film.

Ursa too. I actually liked her in SMII almost as much as Zod, and she probably does even more fighting than he does.

 

[Kirmit]

Seriously though, Foara was a freaken boss in Man of Steel, and a major highlight of the film.

I agree with you completely.

 

[Silvermoth]

I just hope when they adapt sin or madam masque they look at the success that Disney has had and try to match it

 

[psylockolussus]

Some of the villains of Disney are based on fairy tales and novels. Its not like they originally created them.

Seems once again X-Men proves to be the most diverse of the Marvel movies

Agreed! I can't wait for them to do Spiral, Dazzler, Polaris, Marrow, Selene and redo Psylocke!

Mystique
Lady Deathstrike
Dark Phoenix
Angel Salvatore
Emma Frost

You forgot Viper, Callisto and Arclight.